Scientists have developed a cutting-edge technology to allow mass production of biodegradable microrobots that are likely to contribute to improving the efficacy of regenerative medicine such as stem cell therapy.

In a news report by Korea Herald, a joint research team composed of scientists at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital of the Catholic University of Korea, and Swiss public university ETH Zurich came up with a method to produce over 100 biodegradable microrobots per minute – which is about 10,000 times faster than the existing technology of manufacturing medical microrobots.

The researchers applied the technology of magnetic nanoparticles inside the new microbots so that their movements in the human body can be controlled by using magnetic pulls.

The research demonstrated that the microrobots bearing stem cells on the surface moved to desired positions in a micro maze by controlling the external magnetic field.

DGIST pointed out that the new technology is a significant improvement as the existing stem cell therapies have difficulties in selectively delivering cells to certain spots.